America’s Champion Swimmer: Gertrude Ederle
Group Time
Practice Retelling
REVIEW ELEMENTS OF BIOGRAPHY Help students identify the
people in the biography and where this real-life incident from America’s Champion Swimmer: Gertrude Ederle takes place. Then guide them in using the Retelling Cards to list events in Gertrude Ederle’s life in sequence. Prompt students to include important details.
RETELL Have students use the Retelling Cards and work in pairs to retell the events of Gertrude Ederle’s life covered in America’s Champion Swimmer. Monitor retelling and prompt students as needed. For example, ask:
- Who is this biography about?
- Why is this person famous?
If students struggle, model a fluent retelling.

“Women Athletes”
BEFORE READING Read the genre information about online directories on p. 108. An online directory is like a table of contents or an index. It can help you find information about a topic. This selection will explain a search for information about women athletes.
Read the rest of the panel on p. 108. Then have students find the cursor on each reproduced computer screen and read the name of the link that was chosen.
DURING READING Have students read along with you while tracking the print or do a choral reading of the selection. When you get to the article about Wilma Rudolph, point out the subheads. Subheads can help you locate specific information quickly. What are the subheads in this article?
AFTER READING Have students share their reactions to the selection. Then guide them through the Reading Across Texts and Writing Across Texts activities, prompting if necessary.
- Who are these two women athletes?
- What did each woman accomplish?
- How are they alike? How are they different?






“Women Athletes”
CRITICAL THINKING Have students read pp. 108–111 independently.
Encourage them to think critically. For example, ask:
- Who faced the bigger challenges, Gertrude Ederle or Wilma Rudolph?
- Why was being first important to these two athletes?
AFTER READING Discuss Reading Across Texts. Have students do Writing Across Texts independently.
Extend Genre Study
RESEARCH Have students use online directories to find additional information about women athletes. Have them list the athletes and the major achievements in their lives.
WRITE Have students work together to map out plans for a Web site about famous athletes. Ask: What categories will you put in your online directory? What sub-categories will you use? Then each student can write one article about an athlete. Remind students to use subheads in their articles to make it easy for a user to locate specific information about the topic.